Wow, finishing in the WCC´s top half would be quite an accomplishment considering this start. Rev is a very optimistic guy. Here are a few things that probably need to change for this team to have some success in WCC play (and at least finish at .500):

1. Mitrovic should probably be the leading scorer on this team. He´s the one player who has the green light to score more.2. Our interior defense must improve. That means a few things: a) Barker´s return needs to make a big impact, b) All the big men need to pitch in and help Ryan Nicholas out more in every aspect of the game.3) We need to cut down on turnovers.4) Our young, long players need to continue to develop their perimeter defense.

Heres an interesting thought, how do you think last years team would have fared with this years road schedule and against this years opponents. We are 3-10 but what would the record have been with last years squad? Not only has the team been on the road but the teams this year are a lot better than they were last year. St Louis, Boise St, and Ohio for example were kind of in our current position last year, young and getting better. This year Ohio and Nevada are different teams than they were last year. I guess Im putting it out there to better understand the true scope of what this team is going through right now. Yes the record stinks but good Lord it has been a tough pre season.Like OTF's points a lot, lets get ready for some great WCC games!!!

Actually, the only real inaccuracy in the article I see is in regard to the pasta (last year’s news) and the black walls (much better for TV, although Mauro hated them).

What does the PN think? (the bold lettering is mine).

Fans----You have to love fans, last year Eric Reveno was everyone's rising star in the basketball coaching ranks. Now all I hear from many Portland Pilots fans is that he is doing a bad job, the Pilots can do better and what is wrong with this guy. Well, I have some advice for the fans who have swamped me with these so called issues. Nothing is wrong with Eric Reveno, he still is an outstanding coach and has done and will do an awesome job for the Portland Pilots. Do not turn on the guy so fast. He only won 60 games in the last three years and took his team to the CIT tournament all of those years, coaching at a school that is most famous in sports for soccer and cross country.

Reveno's Pilots are not having a good year, there is no doubt about it. But when you take into consideration that the team has played all but seven games without Riley Barker, Nemanja Mitrovic has gone from one of the best three point shooters in the country, to struggling to just get his shot off this season and Reveno's team is so young, cut the guy some slack. The man can coach.

It is still iffy if Barker will return this year after suffering a leg injury. Barker means a lot for this team, as you can never have enough big men in college basketball. It has forced Reveno to play Thomas van der Mars more minutes than you would like a freshman to play, but van der Mars has responded and has averaged 10 points and just over six rebounds per contest. Not bad for a guy from the Netherlands, who took up hoops late in life and in my mind will be an NBA player upon his graduation. When you add outstanding freshman Kevin Bailey to the mix, the Pilots are going to get better and will be much better next year. Bailey is so impressive that in his junior or senior year I predict he will be the West Coast Conference player of the year.

So while it is an awful year for the Pilots, this is a blip on the radar screen, under Reveno they will be back. Hey, maybe they might even surprise some people and give Gonzaga a game this Thursday, when the Zags make their annual trip to Portland, always a highlight game for the Rose City. Pilots fans you should worry much more about that ugly black color on the walls at the Chiles Center and why someone came up with the bonehead idea to getting rid of your famous pasta buffet on game nights, rather than Reveno's ability to coach.

Written January 23 on CSNNW.com by Greg Crawford:You can contact the writer of this article at gregcrawford@csnnw.com

I have the utmost faith in Rev. He turned this program around quickly! I'm continually impressed by the talent of our young guys, I look forward to the arrival of Jake Ehlers and I look forward to many winning years under Rev!

While I have no idea which fans he talked to I agree with the points he makes about the team's future prospects.

Next time I see Greg I'll let him know Rev is my homeboy. I've seen him at a few men's and women's games this season. After the Pilot game Saturday I went to Warner Pacific to watch them play OIT and after the game I hear "Hey trumpet player!" and it was him. Never met the guy but he recognized me and told me I do a good job. Aw, shucks...

to some this may seem like second guessing but it is not meant to be.this only thng i would be concerned about is the severity of the pre-conference schedule, maybe only half as maney tough games.But throw brick bats at rev, heck no, he may even have some reservations now.now is when coach and team need the support of all of us.

I have full confidence in all four coaches and their support staff, not just for their basketball coaching, but also their “life skills” coaching. I suppose a lot will depend on our new AD and the Athletic Department budget, but I think it’s going to be difficult to keep the entire staff together much longer – no other school in D-1 has the continuity the Pilots have. From what I know of them, all the coaches love it here, but eventually advancement has to be an attraction.

Totally agree with upsailor about the severity of the schedule, but as Rev admitted, “The schedule just kind of got out of control” this year. Part of the problem, as we know, is the refusal of any of Oregon’s D-1 schools to schedule us. (Rev's on record saying he'd love to play PSU twice a year). We know we’ll be at Ohio and Kentucky next year (unfortunately, it would appear the two games will not be on the same trip). Beyond that, I know the coaches are looking for more home games than this year (shouldn't be too hard), but if you were to ask the players, they’d like to play teams like Kentucky every game.